TALIHINA, Okla. — It’s sunset on the Talimena Scenic Drive, a two-lane stretch of asphalt that winds through one of the most gorgeous landscapes in middle America: the ancient Ouachita mountains in eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas.
I’m hours away from the constant craziness of big-city life, having traded pollution and traffic gridlock for miles of wide-open roads and pure, 75-degree mountaintop air, if only for a weekend. There’s virtually no civilization out here aside from a few towns that could make the cover of the Saturday Evening Post if they were a bit less scruffy, and the views from around each bend take my breath away for their Ansel Adams-style serenity. Read more…
Second Time Around, Twice The Charm
Recently we had the chance to sample two cars in Mazda’s lineup that, while unique in their own regards, still carried a bit of familiarity with them. The Mazda6 and MPV have both been welcomed into our fleet in the not so distant past, but we again open arm embraced these two like long lost friends. The MPV has little news to speak of since our last rendition in ’04, while the 6 5-door is altogether a different model in the 6 family. Speaking of families, that is exactly who we put to work in these vehicles. Lets check them out! Read more…
A Small Car With A Good Warranty Is Still A Small Car
We’ve been seeing a lot of red lately, and I’m not just talking about the AT tax forms. Of the last six vehicles that have circulated through the office five have been red, or a variation of the sort. So receiving our Cobalt Blue Suzuki Reno was like a breath of fresh air, mostly. The powertrain is something like that of a smoker’s cough and the compact dimensions act like a resistor in the circuit powering our smile muscles. But hey, I did say I liked the color. Read more…
The Best Car Under $20,000?
It’s not hard to find a publication that will rave about the latest supersedan from Audi, BMW, Mercedes or Lexus. After all, those cars cost $60,000, $80,000, even $100,000. For that many greenbacks the car had better give us something to be excited about. That kind of money buys you a high-quality interior, a delightful driving experience and styling that is clean and upscale. Imagine our surprise, then, when we found all of these things and more in a sub-$20,000 compact from Mazda. We’ll warn you, this review contains ego-enhancing praise galore. Mazda, don’t let this go to your head. Read more…
Remember Daewoo? It was the Korean carmaker that tried selling low-priced cars here for about three years before going kaput.
Or so we thought.
Thanks to the global tentacles of General Motors, Daewoo is undergoing a resurrection of sorts in the United States, only not under its own name. Chevrolet sells one Daewoo model as the entry-level Aveo, Suzuki sells another as the midsize Verona, and now Suzuki is selling a third Daewoo derivative called the Reno. All three are decent cars with incredible price tags. Read more…
Focus…Focus…Focus
Once again I find myself at the mercy of the small car quota. “Muxlow, call up Ford and get a Focus for the week,” read the note on my desk. Ok, thought I, the primary truck editor here at AT. Half an hour later I had an Infra-Red ZX5 waiting for my impending pick-up. Nothing against the Focus, but when you are moving down from a full-size pick-up one week to a small car the next, the size difference is noticeable to say the least. At first I thought it was a joke when Ford asked whether I wanted it in paper or plastic. Alright, all jokes aside, but it did come in a Hot Wheels package. Ok, that’s not true either. Anyway, for an entry-level car, the Focus can add a flare of fun and style to your everyday commute as we quickly found out. Read more…
Like a Michael Jordan comeback, Honda’s hot hatch has returned — and it was worth the wait. Read more…
Volkswagen’s Golf is a master of disguise.
It’s a hatchback, but it doesn’t feel like the little economy cars that dotted America’s roadways through the 1980s. Those were — I’ll try to say this nicely — noisy, ugly rust buckets that felt like driving wheeled cigar boxes. Read more…
